Stop Treating Your Social Media Like Rental Space

If you have ever rented anything, from a car to a home, you walk into the situation with one thing in mind, skepticism that the last person here treated the item correctly.

It isn't an unwarranted thought. Truth is, there is always that one person who didn't treat the home or car very well. While 10 people treated that item well, that one person has left an indelible stain in your mind that there is something wrong with it, as small as it may be.

Take a moment and look at your Facebook page. Does it look like your business? It is exemplifying your brand as it would if you had a rented a storefront? Do you have spelling errors? Are you engaging your audience? Are you using search terms that will help your EdgeRank.

All too often, I hear from people who run social media sites for their company: What is EdgeRank?

"EdgeRank is the Facebook algorithm that decides which stories appear in each user's newsfeed. The algorithm hides boring stories, so if your story doesn't score well, no one will see it."

If you look at business social media pages, specifically on Facebook, you will see a lot of old material. You have to think of you social media and your website like a bakery: People like fresh bread/donuts/cakes/etc,. In that same mentality, your audience likes fresh content.

Then there is quality of your social media content. It has been determined that 0.02% of all posts are eligible to make it into a user's newsfeed. And now that has changed even more, according to Mark Zuckerberg, last week, when he announced that posts that will show up in your feed will be more "meaningful". With that said, quality and making it engaging for the audience to discuss and share will be all the more important.

The problem with rental space is, you don't full commit to it. You can leave at any time. You don't invest in it, why would you? You don't own it. What a lot of people forget is, regardless of your commitment to the location, your brand is at stake. If you treat your social media like that one person who abused the car/house, or just didn't maintain it, you are, also, abusing or not maintaining your brand.

It is no different than having your storefront in a stripmall that isn't maintained. Think about it, you wouldn't go out to a live broadcast in a dirty station vehicle, torn up tent, or worse, go unshowered and smelly.

At the end of the day, your social media is a direct reflection of your brand. A large majority of your website traffic comes from your Facebook page. It is worth your time and effort to make sure your social media reflects your brand cleanly and accurately.